Guest Post: Get Ripped Abs By Performing Static Holds
May 28, 2008
Note from Mike: Below is a guest post today from Rusty Moore of Fitness Black Book. I asked Rusty to write something up because as a trainer I can attest that the info he presents on his blog is accurate and very easy to understand. Rusty’s site focuses on the “Hollywood Look” (who doesn’t want to look like a Movie Star?), which is mainly about getting slim and defined instead of building excessive amounts of muscle. The article he wrote here is a way to get ripped abs without doing crunches and sit ups. As Rusty notes in his article, static holds are an effective way to build that six pack while protecting your spine against injury. Thanks again for the great info Rusty!
[Getting "Ripped Abs" involved working the not just the "six pack", but all of detail muscles like obliques, intercostals, etc. A six pack is great, but full midsection development should be your goal.]
How I Discovered a Unique Approach To Getting Ripped Abs
About 20 years ago I injured my back badly on the leg press machine. I was lifting sets of 10 with serious weight and something “snapped” in my back. Not good! To make a long story short, I slipped a disk. I was in agony for the following 4 months and it hurt to walk or just stand up. After 4 months of physical therapy things felt normal again. The problem was that for the next 15 years this injury kept resurfacing. I would do something as simple as shoot a basketball and then I’d be down for 2-3 months. Then in 2003, I bought Low Back Disorders by Stuart McGill. This is a massive $60 hardcover book which is considered by many to be the best book on treating athletes with back injuries.
Crunches and Sit ups Can Increase Your Chances of a Spinal Injury
In his book, Stuart talk about how the repeated flexing of your spine forward can actually weaken your spinal column. The bad thing about doing crunches is that not only are you compressing your spine, you are building strength and muscle that reinforces the “flexing forward” motor patterns. You are training your body to get better at weakening your spinal column! Repeatedly flexing the sine forward, slightly increases your chances of suffering a back injury in the future. Fortunately most people will be able to get away without injuring their back, but why take that risk?
Static Holds are a Way to Get Ripped Abs While Protecting the Back
About 5 years ago, I had never heard of “planks”. In fact, back then I had never seen them performed in any gym. In Low Back Disorders, Stuart showed diagrams of the plank exercise and explained a few variations. He also explained that this was the best way to get a defined midsection while actually improving back health. After reading his book, I decided to give them a shot and drop all other direct ab work I was doing. Within 3 months, not only did my back feel great…my whole mid section was defined like never before!
So What is the Definition of a “Static Hold”?
For the most part a static hold is a fancy way of saying isometric exercise. These are exercises where the focus is on “building tension in the muscle” against resistance, but without performing movement. Ever done wall squats in P.E. class back in school? This is an example of a static hold. Static holds and isometric exercises are a great way to build muscle definition without an increase in muscle size. Concentric movements like sit ups and crunches break the muscle down a bit, which is great for muscle growth. My argument against doing concentric movements for abs and obliques is that there is the possibility of building bulky abs. This is something you should try to avoid!
Why Planks Are The Ultimate Ab Exercise in My Opinion
Crunches and other ab exercises generate contractions by shortening and curling your spine to a certain extent. Over time I believe this shortens the hip flexors and can create bad posture along with back problems for a lot of people. Planks, on the other had, generate strong contractions in a neutral position. Think about this…don’t you want to display defined six pack abs when you are standing or just lying in the sun? Well…planks are teaching your abs to contract hard in this same neutral position. You are basically training your abs to look sharp when your spine is in a natural position (which is most of the time). Planks also promote even ab development. What I mean by that, is that this exercise seems to work the upper lower and mid part of the abdominal wall evenly. Planks also works all the “detail” muscles well that surround the abs…the obliques, intercostals, etc.
My “9 Minute Abs” Static Hold Routine
Yes…it is one minute longer than “8 minute abs”. Oh well, it isn’t perfect! This routine does require an “exercise ball” for 2 of the minutes, but not completely necessary. If you don’t have access to an exercise ball, just do the regular plank again.
1) Two minutes doing a right side plank
2) Two minutes doing a left side plank
3) Rest 30 seconds
4) Two minutes doing a regular plank
5) Rest 30-60 seconds
6) Two minutes doing an *exercise ball plank (if available, or try reg plank again)
* The “exercise ball plank” is just a regular plank done with your elbows resting on an exercise ball instead of the ground.
Note: You may not be able to do a static hold in each position as long as recommended at first. You will most likely have to work up to this level. Very few people can hold a plank for 2 minutes on their first try. As long as your body fat levels are low, this routine will carve up your midsection. It works very well!
awesome post!!!!!!!!!
My favorite kind of routine, very easy to do while watching TV. What kind of frequency would this be done?
Josh - I say shoot for once a day and work your way up from there. Have fun increasing the difficulty to by using only one foot down or putting it on something unstable (like a tennis ball, foam roller, pillow, etc…). Remember to “flex” and “brace” while doing it, really force the muscles to work….like someone was about to punch you in the stomach.
Mike,
Newer reader, first time poster. I had to let you know how much your site as helped me fine tune my habbits. I have done a form of IF for a long, long time and never really known it, but now that you have given me the resources to understand and fine tune it, i am really liking what i see. I too am a hockey player. At this point, i just play in rec leagues, but hockey for me now is a great source of “active recovery!” I am about to complete my first month of crossfit training and i cant be more thrilled about discovering the CF life. I have spent the last two years at your typical gym doing bi’s and tri’s and the like and running for 25-30 minutes and only getting minimal results. However it did help me gain some energy and lose 20 pounds, but it got to the point where it was boring and i wasnt getting anything out of it, and my eating was terrible at best. Then came along CF and now IF and boy has my life changed. I am 6′1 195 (started at 230), and desperatly trying to get to my ultimate goal of 185. I just wanted to say thank you for all of your time and energy you put into helping all of us out. I love the articles and really enjoy reading the posts and replies. Cant say thanks enough! Keep up the good work and i look forward to contiued progess with CF & IF!!
Hi Mike
I’m a fitness black book reader for quite some time and it was a very good idea to ask Rusty for a post, this is one of my favorites, and i agree 100%. Planks are the best exercise for abs, i also like the vacuum stomach exercise, that is also an isometric exercise. All the rest i avoid because i don’t want to grow my abs, nothing like ripped abs and a thin waist.
Great blog you have here
Jason - Hello fellow hockey player! Glad you are getting results and I know you will get to where you want to be. Life and fitness is a journey as we all learn different things along the way and make a lifestyle as we do. Enjoy the new fitness and health info and make it work for you. Stop by and comment any time!
Helder - Rusty is a great fitness blogger. You will start to see more people like him and myself working together…to get the quality info people really need to know out there.
The thing that I respect about mike is that he is “in the trenches” doing what he teaches. I am often disappointed when I read an article in a magazine like Men’s Fitness and see then see a picture of the author or pictures of the contributors. Many of these guys look like they haven’t worked out in years. I’m not saying they are all like that, but it is surprising how often this is the case.
Rusty - Thanks again for a great post. Look forward to more in the future! (PS stop spreading those pictures of me around the internet will ya?
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[...] have been trying to do some BW exercise every morning usually Planks and pushups with some Body Weight Squats. Also I have been doing upright rows with a full suitcase [...]
We call your “exercise ball” plank the pray pose.. partly because it resembles praying.. but mostly because you pray every second for the pose to be over.
Great workout. Do it every time I’m in the gym.
Deb - Ha. Too funny….yes I believe I might have used that “praying” line in the past too with clients. It’s a good mental image at least for those to understand how to do it correctly.
I tried these during my lunch workout today. By 30 seconds I was shaking like a bowl of Jello during a San Francisco earthquake. Wow! I will definitely be adding this to my routine.
DaveC - You can always make them fun by making the base of your stability more unstable….aka lift up one leg…..and if you want real fun, move your leg to the side while in the air, to throw off your weight distribution….I won’t even start to get into using the ball and writing the alphabet with your hands…that’s just mean.
Dang, Mike, I didn’t know you dabbled in S&M!
I’ll get these simple ones down before I crank up the abuse level!! I have had some lower back issues in the past so these really do strike me as better alternatives to crunches. Thanks again for the link!
DaveC - You’d be surprised the things I have been called for my creative torture movements….pretty much everything I think! Yep, for lower back the static moves really are what you need, for support when lifting. Also stretch out those hamstrings…as if those are tight that will give undue pressure on the pelvis/lower lumbars.
For an advanced version of the plan, try resting on the hands arms straight & out past your head as far as you can & still hold for a minute or two. I tried this when the regular plank became too easy. I also will place my hands on a medicine ball out pas my head. Still working on an advanced version of the side plank. I’m not convinced that a regular crunch or situp is bad for you. Being in the military I’ve been doing these for over 20 years & haven’t been hurt because of them nor do I know anyone who has been. My posture is still great at 49.